Looking Back and Looking Ahead

It's hard to believe that it's been eight years since that terrible day back in 2001 but indeed eight years have passed. In the time since there have been so many shifting emotions and opinions that it's getting harder for everyone to remember what it was like on that tragic day. I can still remember (with a great deal of clarity I might add) what I was doing on that day and what I did. It was the type of day that remains ingrained in your mind for a very long time and it's hard to imagine some of those memories ever growing stale. They say that time heals all wounds but some wounds just don't go away no matter how much time passes. At one time it was important to remember with a certain reverence the loss of so many people on that one tragic day. Now it has changed into something else for certain parts of our society. It's simply become a political pawn so to speak.

Never mind that intelligence had been gathered and pushed up the chain of command revealing that just such an attack could occur. But quite honestly, there is intelligence gathered to this effect more often than we may realize and just because it's gathered, what really happened is that the enemy was underestimated. To us, the concept of hijacking a plane and then using it as a weapon seems so foreign to us that we just can't fathom it. Such kamikaze attacks hadn't really been seen since the second World War and in the interim we had settled into what I would consider complacency about what an enemy could potentially do and how they could potentially attack us. We were basically lulled into believing that such an attack would have not possibility of succeeding and yet it did.

In the days and months and years after we have dealt with the consequences. We have become more vigilant, we have become a little more aware but we continue to focus on the smaller picture rather than the larger one. It's like the little Dutch Boy with his finger plugging the hold in the dam. Water being plugged at one point is great and it will save the dam from bursting, but there are other holes that could occur, shouldn't we worry about the overall 'picture' rather than just one small area? Protecting airline travel is one dilemma but what about other forms? Aren't they just as vunerable if we don't protect them? What if the next time another method of attack is used? What if they attempt some other means of attacking our country? What will we do then? React to fix that hole and focus only on that hole or will we seek to try and fix the whole dam?

Our collective memory is short. When we are experiencing that moment in time we will want an instantaneous fix. We become the little Dutch Boy and just want to stick a finger in to the hole to stop the leak. But once the immediate problem ceases to be so obvious then we look for reasons to complain. When security was beefed up at airports we were glad at the outset because it gave us a feeling of security but now people get ticked off at having to wait more than two minutes going through security. Would you rather have some level of security or trust that perhaps the enemy is seeking some other means of getting to us? I would prefer at least some modicum of security rather than leaving my fate to chance.

One thing I always feel is that for the convenience of the moment, whether it is related to our safety or winning our vote, is sacrificed without thought to the long term. Now it has become 'fashionable' in some circles to criticize those who suffered the most on September 11th, 2001, those being the victims and families of those who lost loved ones on that day. Now some concede to hating those families who have come out and complained against the failure of our government to respond in time to a credible threat. They are scorned and viewed as something to be ridiculed and for what purpose? If you have the freedom to complain about them and carry guns to rallys and publicly pray that our leaders should suffer fatal ailments then don't they also have the right to protest their losses?

As more and more time passes from 2001, the immediacy and urgency to protect ourselves will slowly diminish and over time it will lead to another degredation of our vigilance. I'm not suggesting that our posture always remain taut and ready to pounce or be so stern that it appears unyielding but I do believe that by remaining wary and alert, we will do better to protect ourselves. Though we all may not have lost anyone directly in the attacks in 2001, there are nearly 3,000 people whose families and friends have and if they speak up and remind us on occasion as to their loss, and if that helps spur on our continued safety and vigilance, then that will always be worth it. Because those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it and this is one moment in history which I don't think anyone wants to repeat.